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He says it’s not uncommon for QuikTrip to buy property and hold it before making a decision about whether to build.

Though demolition work is happening on the former Dillons, Thornbrugh says he’s not sure when construction will start.

“I don’t envision … anything happening this year.”

Once construction begins, new QuikTrips take about 25 weeks to complete.

“We’ve been doing them now for so long that the pattern’s down,” Thornbrugh says.

By the time the company completes remodeling and rebuilding numerous QuikTrips across the city, Thornbrugh says that “the whole Wichita division’s going to look brand new.”

“It was a division that really had a lot of the older stores,” he says.

“Wichita’s getting an awful lot of attention, and we still think that some day the state may become enlightened … and at least do what 45 other states have done, and that is to have single-strength beer for the adult customers,” Thornbrugh says. “And if they do that, heck, they may even become progressive and allow an adult customer to buy wine from somewhere beyond a liquor store.”

Thornbrugh says QuikTrip is “going forward regardless” but that it would benefit consumers and Kansas if laws are changed.

“Kansas would attract more business, and more companies would expand their presence,” he says. “That includes QuikTrip.”